Ed

Ken, When are you going to show us some photos of your Kiyomaro ? While it is almost certain I could not afford a Kiyomaro, I do have a wakizashi by his brother Saneo. Some of you have seen it, others may not have, so here is a link to it in the event you would like to see it. http://yakiba.com/Wak_Saneo.htm

Odd, the oshigata example is not cut backwards ? I had one of these several years ago. Here is a photo of the Nakago for reference.

I knew those would change hands. Nice menuki.

Sooo, did one of you guys get those octopus menuki ???????? They were nice.

I had a look at this book prior to the SF show and agree with the above reviews. It is not an advance study book but very well done. It does have some material not seen previously seen. The nicest thing, as Ian stated, is the large format and increased number of photographs which if memory serves me, were all in color.

Chigosashi or Boy's day sword. Iga no Kami Fujiwara Kinmichi. Nipon Kaji Sosho

Looking at your photos, the tsuba appears burnt, though after looking at your others they all have the same unnatural appearance. Perhaps that is just a lighting/photography issue, as the added ones of the rim look a little more natural. You may try a darker background/different lighting as your camera seems to be picking up on brightness of the background instead of the tsuba. No offense but I personally see no Yagyu characteristics in your tsuba. I have included a few quick photos of Yagyu examples to give you a better idea of what yagyu look like. These were shot quickly so excuse the focus and off lighting.

I received an invitation via snail mail several weeks ago. The show is being put on by Bob Elder. Nice guy whom I have known for years, Bob was/is a member and served on the board for the Florida Token Kai. I have not heard any other mention regarding his proposed show. He is a long time resident of the Orlando area, and teacher of Toyama Ryu Battdo. http://orlando-toyamaryu.com/

Chris, thanks I'll be here all week. Perhaps that is what he means, that it is not military issue. That quote just invokes an image of someone cruising e-bay for national treasures. Trying to get the point across that not every blade was of great historical importance worthy of special recognition or the subject of poetry and folklore. Like Chris said if not property of the government, didn't they all belong to someones family ? All but a few were made for one purpose, killing. Be it on the battlefield or in a bar. Did every blade see the battlefield, who knows. Did every sword belong to an important family, no. Bottom line this looks to be a legitimate nihonto from the mei, but the condition and it's desirability are yet to be seen. ??????? It is just a sword. If it turns out to be legit and free of flaws, enjoy it for what it is.

I have always heard it translated as Grey put it. It is interesting when the "Ko" character is looked up it means rise, raise up, interest. I wonder if it should be read, Raise up Asia with one heart ?

Hate to be blunt but WTF !! yes, however it could as well have been owned by a gay ronin who spent all his time on his knees, or any other story you would like to concoct. Without some provenance there is no link to a family. Kirikomi, while evidence of a sword being cut could have been in a battle or related to the example above ie; Edo Gazzette Headline: c*ck sucking samurai attacks promiscuous lover. Without provenance it is all speculation!!!

Ken, The blade can be removed with the wrapping in place. It is held in place with mekugi just as a sword. While placing the mekugi ana into the shaft for a perfect fit may require some skill it would have to be done as the ana goes all the way through shaft and wrap. Perhaps it is fitted and the ana are cut into the shaft then after the wrap is completed the holes are cut through the wrapping material. Just a guess, I can't speak with certainty as I just do not know for sure. At any rate here are a couple more close ups of the mekugi ana, maybe they will help.

Ken, No personal dealings, but I have never heard anything but bad reports on the SF guy. Here are some photos of mountings for yari. First three a Jumonji Yari, last two a Te yari.

Curran, Sorry, I couldn't post the photo sooner, just got my scanner up and running this morning. The Kaga Goto piece is beautiful, but I really like the Jingo one. Here is a photo of it:

Great site. Thanks for sharing.

Hanasaka Jijii

Brian, Sorry my post was turned into a racial/slavery thing, it was not my intention. I will not discuss slavery, but must say two things. First, slavery while an inherently bad idea, was accepted and existed worldwide prior to America's discovery. Secondly, America seems to get the blame for the existence of slavery. America did not invent slavery, we did however end it !!! Jefferson was a great leader and visionary who had the guts to stand up for what he believed. It is a shame that the tyranny of today's government has the people of the country scared to stand up for their constitutional rights. I did a little research for you. If you are thinking of joining a gang. The six major Florida prison gangs currently are: Neta Aryan Brotherhood Black Guerrilla Family Mexican Mafia La Nuestra Familia Texas Syndicate As only two of these accept white men, I am thinking Texas Syndicate or Aryan Brotherhood. As far as tattoos go, you will need gang affiliation prior to getting their tats. General tattoos should indicate power and ruthlessness. Maybe a skull with a large knife sticking through it with lots of blood(if your thinking Aryans, nazi dagger would be nice) . Nice logo underneath, like "Kill em all, let God sort em out". Just kidding, they are not going to send you to prison, so don't waste any money on tattoos yet. They would have to release a real criminal to find you a spot. At worst, you may get a slap on the wrist and a fine.

Remember the words of Thomas Jefferson; "God forbid we should ever be twenty years without such a rebellion. The people cannot be all, and always, well informed. The part which is wrong will be discontented, in proportion to the importance of the facts they misconceive. If they remain quiet under such misconceptions, it is lethargy, the forerunner of death to the public liberty.... And what country can preserve its liberties, if its rulers are not warned from time to time, that this people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to the facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure." "The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government."

Hi all, I am trying to find a copy of, or a scan of the page, from the Juyo-Nado-Zufu of the Etchu Norishige which was sold as part of the Compton Collection and is featured in the "100 Masterpieces" book, pages 178-181. The sword was awarded Juyo status in 1975. EDIT: Just noticed I forgot to add that this sword was elevated to Tokubetsu Juyo in April of 2004. Anyone with the book who would send me a scan of the page(s) would be most appreciated. I am willing to pay you for your troubles. It can be sent to: yakiba.com@gmail.com Thank you. BTW: I wasn't sure the best place to post this so I posted it in a couple of spots. Mods feel free to delete one or move if you feel the need.

Wow, what a project. Can't wait to get a copy or two. My hat is off to you my friend.

Very interesting post, they are all very nice, I especially like the shibata Ka, the one from the parents and the Kendo kata ones. Glad you enjoyed the ones I shared, I do have some others but mostly dual makers, body tests etc. The "Head Cutter" is my personal favorite. I did add one more to the page of a Kaneyasu, which is unique in that he chiseled his characters in reverse. Chris, I was too lazy to re-size existing photos . I do have photos of the Teruhide: http://yakiba.com/Kat_Teruhide.htm

Hi George, Just saw your post, and am also surprised at how few unique inscriptions have been posted. I have had several with custom orders or unique statements inscribed, and put a few on a site page(too lazy to re-size them) in the event you or others care to see them. http://yakiba.com/Unusual_Slogans_on_Nihonto.htm

David, I didn't include one in the photos as I was unable to find a photo of one signed "Echizen". There is one in the Nihonto Koza signed, "Echizen no Kuni Akao Jinsuke Saku", but it didn't scan well enough to post.

Research of this school is difficult at best, as it is true that there is not a lot of information available or at least in English (Like other areas, possibly a good deal more that is not accessible in English). While compared to other more widespread and prolific schools the total number of tsuba produced were fewer. However, it is not so much that they did not produce a good number of tsuba, as that they worked pretty much exclusively for the Daimyo families. Therefore their work was rarely, if ever seen by the general public. This isolation resulted in the public never becoming familiar with the school, which in turn prevented them from being desired by the masses or widely copied by other schools. Make no mistake, there are some very good Akao tsuba out there. One other problem is proper identification, if they are not signed pieces, many times they are thought to be Kinai, Shoami or even Akasaka. Much like David's example which was sold as Shoami. And it may be or maybe it is Akao. Again, those punch marks throw me off as they are not consistent with any others I have seen either in hand or photos. While scouring the web today, I did locate one example on Ricecracker with some punch marks around the nakago ana (see below). Unfortunately, it is not papered. As well, the punch marks are totally different than any of the others shown in this thread, making it anyone's guess as to it's legitimacy. I have included some additional photos of Akao tsuba and attempted to scan some from the Nihonto Koza, but they did not come out worth posting. Most of the examples I found are iron tsuba. A few of them have been discussed here in the past. The first three are papered to Akao. The first is a gorgeous iron example belonging to Rich T.. Additional photos and a great write up can be seen on his blog: http://kodogunosekai.com/ The second was posted here several years ago by Steve and is a wonderful non-typical example showing the Shoami influence. The third is papered to Akao, the other two are not papered but nice examples.

Hi Ken, I held off on a response thinking those with more tsuba knowledge may reply. I have seen a number of Akao tsuba, but never one attributed to the Akao school with those punch marks. IMHO the "design" reference in Haynes is regarding the motif of geese in the mist (very popular Akao motif) and not the punch marks (if that is what you meant). The catalog does not depict this tsuba as Akao School but rather as Akao school style. Also, Haynes states, "they made shakudo tsuba with this design", again in both instances referring to the geese motif (IMHO). The early generations preferred other motifs but the later generations seemed to prefer geese and cranes. They worked mostly in shakudo and shibuichi though iron tsuba were made. Shakudo being the most commonly seen. If I remember correctly, one of the early generations were noted as being the first ever to do sukashi in shakudo. Rich T. had an iron Akao tsuba with a motif of Abalone shells which may still be in the archives here on NMB. I couldn't find it but I did include two soft metal Akao tsuba photos. Not to say there is no possibility of yours being Akao work, just that I have never seen such examples. Sadly, I have nothing to offer in regards to what school they may be from.